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Fused suits and Bubbling

FidelCashflow

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I hear people talk about bubbling all the time (only on these forums.) Some people make it sound like an inevitable consequence of owning a fused suit, and it seems to be the number one reason to shell out more money for a canvassed suit. I've owned plenty of fused suits (mostly Valentino and Boss), and have never experienced or witnessed this phenomenon, but I try to take care of my suits and don't put them into heavy rotation because I don't wear suits that often.

Is this problem primarily confined to outdated fusing methods? Is it more common in bargain basement suits that use cheaper fusing methods? Is it primarily due to dry cleaning at excessive heat or some kind of improper care?

To me it's like spontaneous combustion, I've heard stories, but have never witnessed it first hand.
 

TheFoo

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It seems that available fusing techniques have gotten a lot better. I bet a nicely fused suit has the potential to last you a very long time.

But no matter how soft the fusing, the cloth doesn't seem to drape quite as well; maybe fused suits tend to use lower quality cloth. Nonetheless, I think good cloth should be allowed to drape as it will.
 

JLibourel

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All I can say is that I've had a lot of fused jackets cleaned over the years, some of them many times, and have yet to experience the dreaded "bubbling."
 

Get Smart

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My first suit i bought was from Tokyo back in 94, it's a fused fashion suit, it's been worn a lot and cleaned more times than should been....no dreaded bubbling

I think the evils of fusing get blown out of proportion around here
 

EL72

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I've had two Hugo Boss suits bubble at the chest from dry cleaning. I've had other fused suits where this did not happen.
 

Sprezzatura Custom

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I agree with a previous poster that the bubbling is blown out of proportion and it rarely happens anymore.
 

Quirk

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Originally Posted by EL72
I've had two Hugo Boss suits bubble at the chest from dry cleaning. I've had other fused suits where this did not happen.
Is there any recourse for this? If you take it to a good tailor, can it be re-fused?
 

epa

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Is there any other advantage of a "fully canvassed suit" over a "fused suit"? I ahve a fused suit where I find the "consistency" of the jacket a bit unpleasant, but it may just be the cloth.
 

GBR

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Originally Posted by Quirk
Is there any recourse for this? If you take it to a good tailor, can it be re-fused?

No. It should be burned promptly.
 

Tumbleweed

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I once asked a friend of mine who used to work in the tailored clothing industry about fusiing and he explained an interesting point to me. Fabrics made in 'old school' countries such as England or Italy, even if on the cheaper scale, tend to adhere to the fused interlinings far better than fabrics made in Asia. Apparently there's some certain techniques that haven't been adequately reproduced by those manufacturers.

Whilte floating canvas is definitely better, but I too think the evils of fusing are overplayed on this forum. Before I knew better, I had some fused suits but even despite many dry-cleanings they never displayed the slightest hint of bubbling. I've even read here on this forum that high end brands such as Borrelli use small amounts of fusing to give super-lightweight fabrics a bit of structure in an effort, perhaps ironically, to improve drape.
 

epa

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Originally Posted by Tumbleweed
I've even read here on this forum that high end brands such as Borrelli use small amounts of fusing to give super-lightweight fabrics a bit of structure in an effort, perhaps ironically, to improve drape.

You mean that first they spend a lot of money on making the fabric extremely super-lightweight and then they add glue to make it behave like a cheaper and heavier fabric? Great!
 

Charlie

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i have about five or six hoseph abboud suits in my closet, and three of their sport jackets. i am sure they are all fused, but none of them have ever bubbled, despite numerous wearings and cleanings.
 

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